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Articles Posted in Human Resources Policies

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English-only rules may be discriminatory….and violate federal labor law too.

A few years ago, I posed the question: Is a workplace “English-only” rule legal?  Yadda, yadda, yadda, sometimes. That is, in this Compliance Manual, the EEOC confirms that employers may adopt English-only rules under certain circumstances, insofar as it is adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons (e.g., safety, business necessity) and not to discriminate…

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Does a company invade an employee’s privacy by accessing personal texts on a work-issued iPad?

This “invasion of privacy” question is the lynchpin of a new lawsuit from two former employees of one of the largest beer companies in the world. The complaint (available here), which began in state court, has been removed to federal court in New Jersey. David Gialanella, reporting for the New Jersey…

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39 reasons why your employee handbook may violate the law

Before I get to a 1752-word blog post about the National Labor Relations Board going wee-wee all over your workplace Cheerios with this March 18 report from General Counsel Griffin, replete with examples of how your employee handbook is overly broad and violates the National Labor Relations Act, let me do two…

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152,000 reasons for employers to consider discrimination with drug testing and haircuts

After the jump, what employers can learn from a possibly botched drug test and the failure to hire a Rastafarian (Or an excuse for me to make gratuitous True Romance references). * * *   Many employers drug test job applicants. Floyd (played by a young Brad Pitt), once motivated…

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#SOTU and the #Workplace: A full debriefing of last night’s Presidential address

I had every intention of watching the President address the Nation last night. I really did. But, then I got sucked into the Director’s Cut of The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, the one where the Washington Generals show up first and replace all the confetti with lice. Then poor Lovie…

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If you employ progressive discipline, don’t slap your employees with a bearded dragon

And by bearded dragon, I mean, well, bearded dragon. This warning holds true even if you operate a reptile store. Chris Joseph of the Broward/Palm Beach New Times reports (here) that a Florida reptile store owner was “arrested on battery and cruelty to animal charges on Friday after he allegedly hit…

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NLRB: Your employees can use company email to badmouth you and unionize. Four reasons it’s no big deal.

YES, THAT’S RIGHT. NO BIG DEAL. Hey, if you’re a big employment dork like me, (vote Handbook!), you’ve already read a bunch of blog posts, and you’ll read several more about how the sky is falling after yesterday’s NLRB decision, in which the Board held that employees may use company…